.TH VAX2SUN 1carl CARL
.SH NAME
vax2sun - transmorgrify VAX floating point to Sun format
.SH SYNOPSIS
\fBvax2sun\fR < vax_floatsams > sun_floatsams
.SH DESCRIPTION
\fBvax2sun\fR
reads floatsams (32-bit binary floating point samples) on its
standard input in VAX format, and converts them to Sun format (IEEE
floating point standard).
.PP
This allows binary floating point data generated on a VAX to be 
transferred to a Sun.  It passes headers correctly.
.SH DIAGNOSTICS
This routine takes no arguments, and reads and writes only floatsams.  
Either giving it arguments, or leaving its standard output connected
to a terminal will generate a usage statement.  
.SH CAVEAT
Because the bit-fiddling depends on the architecture of the underlying
CPU, this program only works on a Sun.  It must be compiled on a Sun
and executed on a Sun only.  For symmetry, 
there should be a corresponding
program to Sun-ify floatsams on a VAX.  Generally, all programs should
write a header property saying what specific floatsam format the data is in,
and this program should test that property before conversion.
.SH BUGS
We depend upon the fact that Sun float is the same length as a VAX
long.  We read up Sun floats as though they were VAX longs and then
do bit-fiddling to convert to VAX float.
.LP
Infinity, and other NaNs are not handled correctly since
these numbers are not in the VAX numerical vocabulary.
.SH SEE ALSO
sun2vax(1carl).
.SH AUTHOR
Tom North and Gareth Loy
